HYT H0 Black & Orange (Live Pics & Price)

HYT watches are truly unique on the market, whether it is their bold design, their philosophical conception of time, the way they display the indications or mainly because they rely on fluid instead of traditional hands. Wearing an HYT watch is an experience and, like the design or not, the ingenuity of the display and the crazy technology can’t be denied. Today, the brand presents another take on the fluidic indication of the time, a new version of the HYT H0 presented in an almost full-black attire… And some technical updates that make it quite interesting too.

At HYT, time is liquid and its contemplation becomes a different, almost poetic experience. Together with its sister company Preciflex, HYT has designed high-tech bellows powered by a mechanical movement to propel fluid into a capillary (less than 1mm in diameter) and portray time in a linear fashion. The capillary contains two immiscible liquids working in opposition, the first one is coloured (indicating the time that has passed) and the second one is translucent. Their meeting point is a meniscus, which indicates “the now”. When the coloured liquid reaches 6 o’clock, it flows back to its original position in retrograde motion.

The HYT H0, presented in 2017, was a major design evolution of the original concept of 2012. The case was reduced to a minimum and made almost entirely from sapphire, freeing the view on the display and refocussing on the main theme: the fluidic indication of time. Alongside this new “pebble-like” shape of the case, its dimensions were reduced. It was still an imposing piece at 48.8mm x 18.7mm, but easier to live with. The sleek, highly graphic and modern case is “lug-less”, meaning that it easily adapts to most wrists, and even though it remained a statement piece, it was more comfortable than ever.

This year, the brand introduces a new version of its cornerstone watch, the HYT H0, with full-black case and dial, enhanced by the presence of orange markers – all filled with Super-LumiNova. The dark theme continues on the rubber strap and on the fluid, since the liquid that indicates the time that has passed is also black. It can be read easily since the background is executed in a bold orange tone. The hands for the seconds and the minutes, as well as the disc for the power reserve, also feature touches of orange.

The way the HYT H0 works is impressive and today, the brand offers an interesting mechanical update to its model. Previously powered by the same movement as the H1 or the H4, the brand now integrates its latest engine, which was recently introduced on the H5 and explained in our video here. The new calibre 501 retains the same logic as before but improves the way the two parts of the movement, the timekeeping area and the display module, interact to improve the precision of the indication.

The base is a proprietary movement, developed and manufactured in collaboration with TEC Group and Eric Coudray. The movement runs at 4Hz and stores up to 65h of power reserve; there is a power reserve gauge visible on the upper half of the watch. Its role is to provide energy and precision. The second part is the fluidic module, composed of two bellows, which actuates the immiscible liquids in a glass capillary tube. The complex and new part of this movement is the connection between the modules – how to transform the circular motion of a standard movement into a linear display. For that, the Calibre 501 features an intricately shaped cam-follower system to synchronize the hour and minute indications with precision. Its 13 positions offer as many steps to cohesively index the two displays. The cam works in conjunction with a long, curved feeler-spindle enabling the orchestration of the mechanism.

Price and Availability

The new HYT H0 Black-and-Orange joins as a member of the permanent collection. It will be priced at CHF 43,000. More details at hytwatches.com.